Anno Mundi said:OK here goes. Last week I weighed myself, and almost had a heart attack. Well, at the weight the
scales showed I figured it was kind of inevitable anyway so why delay?
I want to lose weight and not too long ago bought myself a very nice new flat bar road bike, upon
which I have become no more than an occasional rider. I want to do more but, as yet, my brain will
not allow me to do so. The trouble is that I am a tad confused about diet, exercise etc etc, as
well as inherently lazy due to years of inactivity and a serious knee injury.
In the hope that someone is able to help me I thought I'd ask specific questions rather than be
generalist in approach:
I'm not expert - but to summarise things I've read various places (probably not all reliable so take
with a pinch of salt):
Quoted message said:1. I currently ride around 20 miles per week at a moderate pace, on roughly 3 outings. Is this
enough?
Probably not... of course you don't need to exercise at all to lose weight, just eat less. But the
recieved wisdom seems to be that for losing weight it helps to take regular exercise sessions of 40
or so minutes or more.
3 seven mile rides? How long does each ride take you?
If you find longer rides difficult to start with then gradually build it up. Once you get used to it
you should find that you can manage longer rides. The intensity of the exercise is not so important
if weight loss is your primary goal.. of course the harder you work the more calories you burn; but
don't sacrifice duration for intensity. Better a longer, relatively low-intensity session that a
short very intense session.
Quoted message said:
2. I weigh 16st at 5 feet 11 tall. Common opinion states I need to eat around 2500 cals a day but
does this allow for the above exercise?
20 miles at a moderate pace should be what - maybe a thousand calories in the week? So it should not
really make a big difference to the total food you require over the week. If you want to lose weight
you specifically don't want to replace all the calories you burn during exercise.
Quoted message said:
3. When I return from a ride I am starving. No I mean starving and the urge to gorge on anything
I lay eyes upon is almost overwhelming, except my dog and my girlfriend. What should I eat and
how soon afterwards so as not to counteract the purpose of my ride?
Hmm... that seems little odd for a seven mile moderated paced ride, perhaps you should check with
your doctor that you don't have some kind of medical condition? In a way the fact that you're hungry
might be a good sign... it shows that the ride is having some effect on your body :-)
Maybe try slowing it down a little (not less distance - just a bit slower).
Apart from that, make sure you're getting a good percentage of complex carbohydrates in your food -
in particular have a meal involving something like rice, pasta or potatoes a few hours prior to
exercise. Restrict the amount of fat in your diet. Shoot anyone who mentions the word "Atkins" in
your presence :-) - although alcohol is bad for your weight too, although good in other ways :-)
Maybe try to plan your rides so that you have one of your regular meals immediately afterwards to
deal with the hunger.
General opinion seems to be that it's better to take the bulk of your calories at breakfast and
(particularly) lunch rather than dinner. This can be tricky if you're used to having you evening
meal as the big meal of the day. Think quality rather than quantity for the evening meal.
Quoted message said:4. After a long day at work, incorporating a 100 mile commute, how the hell can I motivate myself
to stick to a riding/exercise routine? I love riding, I want to ride, but my body will not
always allow me to go outside the house!
Move house? Move jobs? :-) Go for a run at lunch time? Do you commute by car or train - if the
latter maybe you can cycle to the station at each end. Or if by car maybe do 90 miles in the car and
cycle the last bit? Converting wasted time like comuting time to exercise time is good if you can do
it because you don't end up using up extra free time for your exercise.
Do you mean you can't face going out specifically; or that you can't face doing any excersice? If
the former You could get a turbo trainer? Personally I've just bought a rowing machine because I
often like to do a bit of exercise when the kids are asleep in bed - so I'm unable to leave the
house for that reason; also because the rest of my exercise - cycling and running - only really
involves the legs so it's make a change to work the arms too.